Alex Walmsley and Agnatius Paasi ruled out for rest of Saints' season

Powerhouse prop forwards Alex Walmsley and Agnatius Paasi have been ruled out for the rest of the season with the knee injuries they sustained at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Walmsley, who has had surgery today, is expected to be out for 12 weeks but Paasi has an even longer road to recovery ahead of him as he will be sidelined for at least nine months.

Agnatius Paasi takes Saints forward against Leigh before sustaining his serious knee injury (Image: SWpix.com)

Furthermore, fellow prop Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook is set to be absent for two weeks with a quad injury and another middle unit, Morgan Knowles, is only rated 50:50 to be fit to face Leeds Rhinos at the Totally Wicked Stadium in Super League on Friday.

Wellens, who said all four injuries were sustained as a result of 'reckless and dangerous' tackles by Leigh forward John Asiata, took the unusual step of issuing a statement at the start of his weekly press conference this afternoon.

John Asiata celebrating his team's Challenge Cup semi-final success against Saints with Leigh owner Derek Beaumont (Image: SWpix.com)

His statement in full, begins: "As a game we bang the player welfare drum a fair bit, and make a lot of effort and have made a lot of strides as a game in recent times to protect players, because ultimately we have a duty of care to protect our players at all times.

"But in my opinion, and I think very few would disagree with me, this weekend the governing body has failed in its duty to protect its players.

"On the weekend we had four players injured by one player tackling in a reckless and dangerous manner.

"One of those players has a 50 per cent chance of playing this weekend - that's Morgan Knowles.

"Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook will not play for two weeks probably.

"Alex Walmsley is today having MCL surgery and will be out for 12 weeks.

"And the fourth player, Agnatius Paasi, has torn ankle ligaments, torn MCL and will also undergo an operation to have a repaired ACL in which he will not play for a minimum of nine months.

"The RFL, before the Match Review Panel met to adjudicate on those decisions, were provided with detailed medical reports off our medical staff.

"And when I spoke to the Match Review Panel who had viewed that game, they, by 6.30pm on Monday after a decision not to charge John Asiata was made, had still not seen those scan reports.

"What I want to ask is why?

"Because that is a very different procedure to which Morgan Knowles was subjected to when he was part of a similar scenario after a game on Good Friday in which unfortunately Mike Cooper (Wigan) suffered an ACL injury.

St Helens head coach Paul Wellens (Image: SWpix.com)

"I think it's important to consider here, this isn't an emotional response of losing a cup game. I congratulate Leigh wholeheartedly for the way they played on the weekend and wish them well in the final in a few weeks' time.

"What we've got to consider here when we're making decisions not to charge players who are tackling in that manner, is that we give the green light for players of all levels - Super League, Championship, League 1, Academy, Scholarship, women and dare I say the community game - to be able to tackle like that.

"And as I sit here now as somebody who loves the game of rugby league, that doesn't sit with me well and it doesn't make me feel comfortable.

"I have an eight-year-old son who plays rugby at Pilks Recs, who plays the game with a smile on his face every week, but if that's the type of tackle we're allowing in our game then maybe rugby league is a game I don't want my son playing anymore - I feel that strongly about it.

"And I feel that strongly that Agnatius Paasi and Alex Walmsley - and to a lesser extent Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Morgan Knowles - have been severely let down by the governing body this weekend."

Wellens was asked to clarify the issues he could see in Asiata's tackling technique.

"The bloke is out of control. He's just hurling himself at players' knees," he said.

"It's a tackle technique that he's not just brought into play on the weekend, it's a tackle technique he's been using and he used it against us in round three.

"For me, this has been an accident waiting to happen. And this is why, in my opinion, the RFL and the Match Review Panel are culpable because they've had numerous opportunites to influence the way he tackles and to stop him doing it - and they've failed to do that.

"We have a responsibility as a wider game. This isn't a St Helens v Leigh thing, we need to clean our sport up and make it a sport that's safe to play.

"And when we look at incidents like that and deem them legal, and not anything to charge on, then I have a real problem with it because ultimately as it's gone to show at the weekend that tackling in that manner has serious consequences.

"In Agnatius and Alex, we've got two very extremely disappointed, angry, upset players that that have been left in this position and the game hasn't protected them.

“The reason I’m speaking so passionately is I believe in a cleaner game and a cleaner future for our sport. And what happened at the weekend doesn’t tie into that at all.

“Also, I can’t look Alex Walmsley and Agnatius Paasi in the eye if I don’t speak my mind and speak on behalf of them. Because if the game’s not going to protect them, I’ll sure as will do my best.”

Wellens added: “It’s a long road ahead, particularly for Agnatius.

“Twelve weeks for Alex doesn’t sound like a lot when you compare it to Agnatius’ nine months, but at the same time Alex Walmsley at this moment in time is second guessing whether rugby league is a sport for him and I can understand why.

“We come down now so hard on players with head injuries and things like that – and we’ve lost another guy this week (Seone Mata’utia) and we accept that charge, but I know as a player – as someone who’s played the game for a long, long time – I’d much rather go on the field and be clipped round the head than have someone dive at my knees and blow my knee to bits.

“So, are we taking certain things more serious than others?”

Wellens continued: “I’ve spoken to numerous people involved in the game over the last 24/48 hours since that game. Not one of them has said to me that’s a fair tackling technique that we want in the game. Quite frankly, it’s horrific.

“Leigh play Wigan at the weekend. If I’m sat there as Matty Peet, I’m thinking what the heck lies in store for my players on the weekend. Because as a game we’ve told him he can do that.

“How we can sit here comfortable with that, in whatever position you are within rugby league, I’ll never know.

“What we’ve effectively done by not charging him, is told thousands of people who play rugby league up and down the country every weekend on all different levels, that that tackling technique is ok.

“I’m sure that within that they (The RFL/Match Review Panel) know that is not ok. They had an opportunity to make a strong decision and took a weak one.

“In doing so, they have potentially put thousands of players up and down the country at risk. I would implore anybody involved in the game at all levels to not teach or allow your players to tackle in that manner because as we’ve seen at the weekend the outcomes can be quite severe.

“I reckon there’s so many good people involved in the game that won’t, but if there’s one person who thinks that’s a good idea off the back of that then that’s on the RFL’s head.”

Both Walmsley and Paasi have been mainstays of the Saints pack in the bid to win a fifth successive Super League title and their absences for the rest of the year rubs salt into the wounds of a narrow Challenge Cup exit.

Paasi limped off late in the game after crashing towards the try line but being halted.

Walmsley finished the game playing with strapping around his knee, as did Knowles.

Wellens had already lost the services of veteran prop Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook before half-time with his quad problem.

And what does Wellens say about the impact this all has on the bid to winning a fifth title on the bounce?

“It certainly hurts our chances, doesn’t it? Alex and Agnatius two important and influential players, and we’re disappointed they won’t be there," said Wellens.

“But at the moment the overriding emotion in terms of both Ignatius and Alex is making sure they are ok emotionally as much as physically because they’re not in a good place at the moment and I can understand why.

“But as a group we’ll move forward, we’ll galvanise, we’ll pull together. We’ve got players who will come into the team and compete as hard as they can to try and make us successful. That’s our challenge now.

“What is important, is that we come together as a group and continue to uphold the standards here at St Helens to do everything that we can to be successful. That’s the challenge for us.”